Talking STEM jobs or how to code is not enough to excited students about future careers.

“Technology represents an amazing opportunity for young people, but instead of trying to build their interest by telling them it will help them get a job, I think it’s more effective to emphasize the empowerment and opportunity that technology education offers them,” says entrepreneur Justin Richards, the 27-year-old founder and CEO of Chapel Hill startup Youth Digital.

He wants to help students learn to create and shape their futures, not just write code.

This is Engineers Week, and in a two-part interview Richards shares his passion about how to excite students about the potential of technology for their futures.

“Students around the world are told they must ‘Learn to Code!’ This certainly sounds great, but why should you learn to code? Will it really help you accomplish your personal goals or land your dream job?” Richards said at a TEDx conference in 2015.

“[L]learning to code is only a part of joining the digital revolution, but we’ll go further to explore how you can
harness technology to your unique way of impacting the world. Learn how you can shape the future by not just learning to code, but learning to create.”

Richards, who started his career teaching in St. Louis five years ago, leads Youth Digital, which has grown to a team of 40 people. They deliver technology to make learning fun to more than 75,000 students across a hundred-plus countries. Starting as early as age 8, students immerse themselves in learning how to write apps and apply Minecraft mods.

They even work on 3D animation.

A self-taught programmer who got his start as a teacher working with children at orphanages, has built Youth Digital into a company that he would have enjoyed as a child.

Study after study shows that STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) jobs are among the best career possibilities for students. But enjoying as well as learning about what technology can mean for an education as well as a career is important, too, as Richards explains.

  • Why should young people be interested in a tech education?

Technology represents an amazing opportunity for young people, but instead of trying to build their interest by telling them it will help them get a job, I think it’s more effective to emphasize the empowerment and opportunity that technology education offers them.

The possibilities of what you can create with technology are endless, and that’s exciting to many kids.

We’ve seen amazing developments over the past few years in fields like 3D printing and mobile technology, and making these groundbreaking technologies available to young people is a proven way to get them excited about tech education.

  • Aren’t most young people more familiar with tech than any previous generation? Isn’t it more possible than ever to leverage tech into a career?

Absolutely.

Kids have been exposed to types of technology in their everyday lives that would have seemed impossible to their parents. Since this generation grew up with technology in a way that none previously interacted, they have a unique affinity for tech, and also a level of comfort and familiarity that is a second nature.

But being proficient with using technology is not enough. If kids today learn to create technology, imagine what they will be able to create when they are older! Today, technology is an integral part of pretty much every industry, from healthcare to finance to transportation.

More careers than ever require technology, even if you aren’t in a tech-related field. By learning to create with technology kids can understand fundamentals of technology which will be invaluable no matter their career.

  • How can we help make it fun for them to pursue a tech career?

One of the most fun things about technology is the limitless possibilities that it offers! In one of our coding classes, we teach kids how to create almost anything they can imagine in the Minecraft universe. This gives kids an unbound opportunity to use their imaginations, and then gives them to tools they need to create in the real world.

For most kids, the ability to make what they see in their head a reality is thrilling, and it lays the foundation for a future career in tech.

  • Surveys show growing need for STEM workers and the prospects of automation/robotics doing away with many jobs so don’t they have an incentive to pursue tech?

This reinforces the need to learn to create technology, not just be able to use it efficiently.

As automation and robotics begin to revolutionize industry after industry, those who can create that technology will be able to engage at a different level. But even today, technology is one of the most promising pursuit for kids today in terms of future careers.

In 2015, there were more than 600,000 high-paying technology jobs unfilled, and by 2018, 51 percent of all STEM jobs are projected to be in computer science-related fields, according to the White House. In order to maximize their future economic opportunities, career options, and their own passions, young people absolutely have an incentive to pursue tech education from an early age.

  • How does your company help create an environment for tech careers?

Youth Digital offers courses that are designed to teach professional technology skills and software with the goal of giving kids real-world experience in technology. Our courses teach the same coding languages and software tools used by professionals.

We do not require any previous experience, but teach kids how to create just like the pros. We believe that helping kids acquire these professional skill sets at ages as young as 8 years old sets them up for a career in tech well. Imagine applying for a job right out of college with 14 years of programming experience on your resume.

Even if they start small, the projects that are kids can create at age 8 can absolutely prepare them for their future career.

In Part Two: The “How” questions – how to get more girls and more minority children involved in tech? Plus: The role of parents, teachers and their schools in creating excitement about technology’s potential for students’ futures.